7 Foods To Avoid If You Want To Lose Weight

We all want to eat healthy but sometimes it’s so hard to avoid everything that could remotely be high in calories. Besides exercising, we need to cut down a lot of bad foods, which contribute to your calorie intake per day (for a typical female it should be around 1800). We should live in a perfect world where we avoid eating all junk food, but unfortunately there are always going to be temptations. Instead of beating ourselves up over splurging once in a while, try to cut down solely on those things that are the worst for you. What are those foods?

1. Pasta

Pastas are high in complex carbohydrates and nothing else, which as you may know, contributes to weight gain really easily because it provides a lot of energy and if that energy isn’t used up, it quickly gets converted to fat. I personally believe pasta is my no-go carb because the the more you eat it, the more you crave for it. Cutting out other carbs may be easier than cutting out pasta, but this one is deadly! Watch out for that yummy chicken alfredo next time you go out to your favorite restaurant. Substitute your pasta with squash pasta or tofu noodles!

2. Juices, Pop, and Energy Drinks

We know this isn’t food, but juices and other sugary drinks are really high in sugar, which is a simple carb. You may be surprised at how much carbs are in one can. (One can of coke has around 39.0 grams of sugar, and one cup of apple juice is about 26.0). If you want to lose weight, you should limited your carb intake to 140-200 grams a day (depending on your weight). This already takes up 1/4th of your allotted intake. Is one can of cola or fruit juice really worth it? For a more detailed analysis of what really is in your juice bottle, check out “how much sugar in sodas and beverages?“

3. Starbucks Frappucinos

Sorry, another ‘drink’, but technically this should count as a meal a grand mocha cookie crumble frap has 480 calories and 6 grams of fat. That’s about the equivalent of a small meal! For alternatives, why not get a coffee, espresso or a bottled version of the frappuccino? It’s only about 200 calories and tastes about the same. (The whipped cream is probably the worst part of the actual frappucino.)

4. Anything Fried

This is a rather broad list unfortunately, but fried foods are a definite no when you’re on a diet. Not only should people noton diets stay away from them, but if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s the ultimate gainer because you can’t stop eating them if you have one. Plus, they are high in trans fats which are bad for your heart, and add no other nutritional value to your meal. Instead of fried foods? Grill them or boil it! Even mashed potatoes are better than french fries.

5. Donuts

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Donuts are extremely fattening with one Dunkin Donuts’ donut having up to 520 calories. If you have 4 of them, you’re already over the limit for your daily calorie intake. That, and they’re extremely high in saturated sat and carbs, which are terrible for your body. What are they good for? Pretty much just satisfying your taste buds for 3 minutes.

6. Potato Chips

Chips are like the devil of all junk foods. They are high in trans fat, sodium, calories and they also contain chemicals which are used to preserve the chips. These chemicals, if eaten in large amounts, can lead to cancer. Is your health really worth sacrificing for a bit of salty goodness? They are easily replaced by veggie chips or popcorn.

7. Pizza

Pizza may sound like it’s good and healthy cause.. you know, it contains vegetables! And cheese! And meat! But considering how much fat and calories there are per sliceof pizza, it’s not worth what little nutritional value you are getting from it. I highly advocate against pizza because it’s so easy to order a box when you’re really hungry and it’s midnight and there’s nothing else open — but that’s exactly why you shouldn’t. It tempts you to break your diet and you might have a hard time getting back on track. If you are hungry and you don’t want to cook, you can consider ordering sushi instead.

Again, this was just a general guideline on what you should not even have a bite of when you’re on a diet. Just because there were other things that were not listed on here doesn’t mean you should splurge. It’s easiest to cut down on things if you try to maintain your diet throughout and not have too many cheat days.